All Blacks’ Savea charged with assault

All Blacks winger Julian Savea has been charged with assault after an incident involving his partner, saying he “did some things that are wrong and that I shouldn't have done.”

Savea will make a court appearance in Wellington on Monday. The charge relates to an incident that occurred last weekend.

Savea sobbed as he read from a prepared statement at a news conference on Sunday.

“Whilst I can't go in to the details because it is now before the courts, I understand that the details will come out in due course,” Savea said. “But I will say that my partner and I did have an argument, I did some things that are wrong and that I shouldn't have done and I apologize for that.

“I just want you guys to know that I'm not making excuses for myself. I know what I did was wrong and I'm taking steps to make sure this will never happen again and my main concern after all of this is making sure that my partner and baby are okay after all of this.”

New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said the New Zealand union was “very disappointed to learn of this incident and Julian's subsequent charge.

Tew said alcohol was not a factor in the incident. He also confirmed officials of Savea's Super Rugby team, the Wellington-based Hurricanes, were aware of the incident when they allowed the winger to play against the Western Force on Friday.

“There was a large group of people who gave that a lot of thought, including Julian himself and the coaches of the Hurricanes,” Tew said.

The 22-year-old Savea made his All Blacks debut last year and has scored 12 tries in nine tests. - Sapa-AP